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Men's Ashes to begin on December 8 in Brisbane before concluding in Perth
England's men will begin their attempts to reclaim the Ashes at Brisbane on December 8, with an intense program of five Tests in six weeks culminating at Perth's new Optus Stadium in mid-January. The multi-format women's Ashes will commence shortly after, with Australia looking to achieve a third consecutive defense across a single Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is.
With the T20 World Cup being staged in October and November in India, and the likelihood of players arriving in Australia having to quarantine for 14 days, the start of the 2021-22 Ashes has been pushed back significantly. The first Test will remain at the Gabba, where Australia has only lost once since 1988, before a day-night game at Adelaide Oval. With Melbourne and Sydney retaining their traditional Boxing Day and New Year spots, the series will finish up in Western Australia - but not at the WACA, which hosted its last Ashes Test in 2017. This will be the first time since 1994-95 that the Ashes has not concluded at the SCG.
Ahead of the men's Ashes, Australia will face Afghanistan for the first time at Test level in Hobart from November 27 after that meeting was postponed from last season due to the impacts of Covid-19. This Ashes series will also be the only preparation for the Australian players who will be also involved at the T20 World Cup.
